Canada’s deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland resigned unexpectedly on Monday, citing differences with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the country’s direction.
Freeland, who also served as Finance Minister and was one of Trudeau’s closest allies in the Cabinet, announced her resignation just hours before she was due to present the fall economic update to the Parliament. The update was expected to reveal a significantly higher 2023/24 budget deficit than previously planned, news agency Reuters reported.
In a letter to Trudeau posted on X, Freeland wrote, “For the last number of weeks, you and I have found ourselves at odds over the best path forward for Canada.”
“Our country today faces a grave challenge. The incoming administration in the United States is pursuing a policy of aggressive economic nationalism, including a threat of 25% tariffs,” she said, as per a report by The Guardian. “We need to take that threat extremely seriously,” she said.
In her resignation letter, Freeland also warned Trudeau against resorting to “costly political gimmicks,” cautioning that such measures could undermine public confidence in the government’s ability to grasp “the gravity of the moment.”
Freeland disclosed in her letter that Trudeau had offered her another Cabinet role last Friday. “You told me you no longer want me to serve as your Finance Minister and offered me another position in the Cabinet,” she wrote. “Upon reflection, I have concluded that the only honest and viable path is for me to resign from the Cabinet.”
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